


Circe's Deal

by bfanatic



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-03-25
Packaged: 2018-10-10 09:04:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10434207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bfanatic/pseuds/bfanatic
Summary: Circe wants Bruce's voice, so she drew up a deal.





	

Circe wants, Circe gets.

So, when Circe wanted Batman, Circe was determined to get him.

After THE incident, all she wanted, was to put his voice on looped replay. She would enjoy his body and face, but that's not exactly needed.

And she knew a perfect way to get it!

＋＋＋

"Hello handsome!"

Circe float in the air like she was sitting on a chair in front of Batman. Everything else stopped moving.

"What do you want, Circe."

Batman's hoarse voice was mostly calm with a hint of frustration.

The last time they met, he had to sing to let Diana walk free as a goddess again.

"Not the talkative kind. Should have known." Circe shrugged her shoulder, but she still smiled as if she had something devious to say. 

Sure enough, she did.

"I have a deal to make with you."

Batman frowned for a moment, then refused, "Not interested."

Circe taunted again, "Really? You don't even want to listen to my deal?" She waited for a moment and continued, "It's very good~"

Batman scolded her, and firmly rejected, "No. Now, let me go."

"Well well, what should I do with this stubborn piece of work?" Circe tapped her arm with her finger. "Let's see if you are as strong as you sound."

With that, the top of her finger flickered some kind of light out. 

There was only silence after that.

+++

Bruce was the happiest person on Earth. 

Even though he lost his voice on the day in the alley, he didn’t lose the two most important people in his life.

It was all a bit messy in his head. He couldn’t remember much. Just that they were in danger because of a mugger, and he was terrified enough to scream. It shocked the mugger, and brought other people to that dark alley. The mugger fled the scene without anything.

After that, he lost his voice.

He admit that when he grew up, he got those odd looks from his peers. Those “sorry” looks.

All of them felt pity towards him, the disabled Wayne heir. 

What they didn’t know was, he had a disability, but disabled? He was not.

He studied engineering. 

More specifically, he studied "cybernetic organism". 

He put a lot of resources into helping those in need, people with disabilities. 

His dad fully support his effort and diverted Wayne Enterprise’s Research and Development Department to improve prosthetics, engineered organs, even brainwave interpretation. 

Bruce could start speaking through a computer’s voice by the time he was eighteen. The initial equipment was soon obsolete when he graduated university and obtained not only Bachelor’s Degree, but also a Master with the new brainwave guided vocal projection. He was the valedictorian of his year. He stood in front of thousands of people, used the device he invented and envisioned a future that everyone looked forward to. 

After that, Wayne Enterprise grew exponentially when he joined the company as CEO. 

People believed in him, believed in Wayne Enterprises, and that he can lead the company to a new era.

Most importantly, his family believed in him.

And just when he thought nothing could go wrong, everything went downhill four years later. There were an alien invasion. 

Chief among them, Darkseid.

None of the heroes could save Earth...

Superman was beaten to a pulp, and his life was cut short with a Kryptonite weapon stabbed into his heart. Rumour said that the leader of the alien wanted Superman to join his reign, become his lieutenant. Superman never cave.

Superman died a hero.

Wonder Woman and her people was protected by the Gods, they made a deal with Darkseid: they would retreat back to Mount Olympus, and not interfere with people on Earth. In exchange, Darkseid leave Amazons alone.

She was a brave soul. 

She never gave up.

After the Amazons were safe, she came back to help, but she lost all her powers… In order to come back, she had to give up her rights as an Amazon and an Amazonian princess. Her last breath was drawn on the battlefield with Darkseid’s Furies. 

Green Lanterns never came, the Earth’s Green Lantern went crazy. He disappeared for days and came back to Earth with lots and lots of rings on his fingers. 

Even then, he still couldn’t defeat Darkseid…

His rings were broken from inside, as soon as he started fighting, all of his rings cracked.

One by one, they fell off.

After the blinding green light while his rings cracked, a man knelt down, crying. He looked at his hands as if it was the first time he’d ever saw a hand. The agony of crushed hope destroyed him. 

Flash, the fastest man alive was no longer alive. He was starved to death.

He couldn’t keep up consuming the necessary energy while fighting, and his whole body slowly shrunk. In his last moments, he looked like a skeleton with skin. No muscle, no fat, nothing.

Even Bruce’s old rival Lex Luthor was killed. Or rather, his brain was killed. 

Lex always planned for the worst, which was Superman going rogue. So he had a contingency plan which involved titanium armour. But he didn’t know he was facing someone much worse…

On their first encounter, Lex won small battles. 

As soon as Darkseid realized that Lex had an intelligence that was non-comparable to any other beings. He fried Lex’s brain. Lobotomized, Lex could barely maintain a life.

Darkseid left Lex to die.

Lucky for Lex, Bruce found him, and nurtured him to the best of his ability. 

Bruce was never a high profile person, when everything happened, he used all he could to help. But again, Wayne Enterprise was never developed for weaponry, so Wayne Enterprise was never a big threat that needed to be neutralized. 

After every one of Earth’s hero sacrificed themselves, it was still not enough.

Bruce wanted to help, but didn’t know what he could do. Especially when the entire human race was now enslaved by Darkseid.

No one could escape…

Right about then, Bruce started having some odd dreams. 

He dreamt a world where he dressed up as a bat to combat crime. A world where him and Superman was more than acquaintances. A world where he stood side by side those heroes. A world where human beings were not slaves of Darkseid.

A world… where his parents died in the alley of that night…

Weeks and months went by, the dreams where more and more vivid, more and more realistic, as if it actually happened.

He remembered the pain of losing his parents. The pain that he endured becoming Batman. And the pain he would have losing them again…

At night, he couldn’t sleep. All he could think about, was the world where it wasn’t perfect, yet it was also not a slave ridden Earth. 

He knew he had to choose. But how could he? How?!

Finally, he went to his parents and Alfred. He knelt down and put his head on his mother’s lap.

“What’s wrong Bruce?” Martha gently stroke Bruce’s hair like she used to. Bruce looked up, with the pure ocean blue eyes, Bruce opened his mouth, “I’m sorry.” 

“What for?” Thomas asked. They all learned lip reading to ease Bruce’s transition. 

“I have to set everything right…” Bruce hugged them, squeezed them as if it was the last time he would hold on to them. Truthfully, it was.

“Son, we are proud of you. Do the right thing.” Thomas hugged Bruce back. He didn’t know what happened exactly, but a father knew when their sons need encouragement.

Bruce let his tears ran free, he sank his face into their shoulders. And for a few seconds, he indulged himself into the pain.

And then, he wiped his tears off, walked to outside where he could no longer see his parents.

He’s back.

“Circe…” 

The first word spoken after the night, Bruce’s voice was a little shaken up. His face stern with the typical Batman expression: no expression.

Circe appeared moments after Batman said her name. Floating in midair, “So, you are as strong as they say.”

Her charismatic smile didn’t work on Bruce.

“Change everything back, Circe.” Bruce’s voice became deep and hoarse. 

“Really? No mommy and daddy? You really want me to change everything back? I can make another deal you know.” Circe’s finger waved in the air, ready to do another trick.

Bruce interrupted, “No. If you do this again, when I come back, and I will, I’ll make sure Lady Justice knows about this.”

“You’re no fun at all.” Circe swung her legs a bit and rolled her eyes, “This is still real. You really don’t want to keep it?”

There was a moment of silence. 

“No.” Bruce still rejected.

Circe seemed just a little down, then her finger flickered lights, everything was back to where Bruce was before. 

“Fine, you and your crusade. Someday, you’ll come for me with a deal. I know it. I’ll be waiting.” With that, Crice disappeared into thin air again, like the way she appeared.

Bruce’s face slowly relaxed.

Sorrow flooded his eyes.

The only thing he could do, was walking back to the Wayne Manor with the mind of steel. He couldn’t afford the consequences of cracking down.

He stood in front of his parents’ graves. 

Stared them for hours.

Just as the sun came up, he turned around.

Another day.

Another opportunity to right the wrongs.


End file.
